"Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. We're so glad you can attend. Come inside, come inside."

That rousing refrain from Emerson, Lake, and Palmer has been running through my mind the past few weeks as I have gone from San Diego to New Orleans to Granville, Ohio in the space of three weeks. OK, not quite a world tour, but certainly quite a trip across the United States.

I've been fortunate over the past six years to work with the Arena Football League first as the chief scorer for the now-defunct Indiana Firebirds, then as a consultant for the ArenaBowl championship game. My duties have been varied, but have mostly consisted of helping with media credentialing during the week before assuming the role of head statistician and record keeper during the championship game.

The previous two years the ArenaBowl took place in Las Vegas. But this season Commissioner David Baker and the league owners made the decision to move the game to New Orleans. The city estimated that the game would bring over $28 million in revenue to an area that desperately needs not only the income, but the public attention. We were told from the moment we arrived to spread the word that New Orleans is open for business and ready for visitors.

It was fascinating to hear stories from the locals about Hurricane Katrina and rebuilding process. One of the workers at the New Orleans Arena told me about moving from New Orleans to Shreveport, Shreveport to Mississippi, Mississippi to Dallas, then back again in almost the same order. He was thrilled we were in town because it meant he received extra hours of work and a bigger paycheck. When I asked him why he came back, he just smiled and said, "because New Orleans is home."

After viewing the can-do attitude of the hearty people of New Orleans (and consuming too much outstanding Cajun cooking, along with beignets almost every morning at Cafe du Monde), it was time to return to Crawfordsville. At least for 20 hours or so. Wednesday morning I was back on the road to Granville for the North Coast Athletic Conference Football Media Day. There were no surprises from the media day activities (other than my par on the back nine of the golf course after a miserable front side of golf at the conclusion of the day's events). Wabash was picked to win the conference by most of the media and coaches (check out the poll results here). But as Coach Chris Creighton reminded me and everyone else, polls don't determine conference champions, results do. So in less than a month we'll start to learn just what kind of football team the Little Giants will field this season.

One final event brought my summer activities to an official end. Saturday evening several members of the Wabash community participated in an Experience Indiana event at the FastTimes Indoor Karting facility. Imagine 20 students, faculty, and staff of the College all racing go-karts against each other. It was a lot of fun (and I'm certain my protest to the racing stewards about Jerry Bowie passing me under the yellow will be upheld at some point. Now I know how Mario Andretti felt about Bobby Unser after the 1981 Indianapolis 500!) and a good chance for everyone involved to spend a great evening together.

But now the summer is officially over. This Sunday afternoon 128 football players will come to campus and the 2007 season will official begin.

Welcome back, my friends. The show is about to begin.